All is well, but what a scare!

I've debated about whether or not to do a post about our recent baby scare. I've decided that it might be good for me.

To begin, let me assure everyone that the baby is okay and the prognosis for a normal outcome is good. But boy did this little one ever give us a fright last week! A warning: though I will try to avoid anyhting graphic, I am learning that this baby making thing is not exactly the *prettiest* process.

On Wednesday night, as we were getting ready for Sam's saxophone student to come over for a lesson, I was straightening up the bedroom and BAM! I had to pee. This is not really uncommon for me at this point. I went to the bathroom and noticed blook on the toilet paper. Not just a little. A lot. There was bloo don the toilet paper, blood in the toilet...I took a deep breath and called Sam into the room and told him that we had to go to the hospital. Now. What a great husband I have. Before even asking why, he immediately got on his phone to cancel his lesson, all the while putting on shoes and grabbing keys. I cleaned up and then sat down. What just happened? Why was I bleeding? It seemed like it stopped...what should we do? I took some deep breaths and told Sam what happened. I remembered the doctor giving me an after hours OB number, so I called it and a different doctor from the clinic responded. She told me to get to the ER. Usually I am okay as long as everyone around me is calm, but she sounded worried. I lost it. Be it hormones, being scared shitless, or just plain overwhelmed, I was crying and I couldn't stop. We got in the car and drove to the ER.

Once at the ER, it took about 45 minutes to get into a room. Sam and I were silent. I didn't want to talk about it. I knew what COULD be happening, and I didn't have the words anyhow, so why bother trying to talk? When we finally got into the room, the nurses put an IV in, told me to drink a TON of water, and then sent me off for an ultrasound. I was relieved that we would know, instantly, whether or not the baby was okay. I think I was shaking the enire way to radiology. At first the ultrasound tech seemed really nice, but as we got into the actual ultrasound, I did not care for her much. Obviously we were in the ER, and obviously I was sent to ultraosund to see if our baby was still alive. At the very least, as you are taking the pictures, SAY SOMETHING! Tell us if the baby is moving, tell us there is a heartbeat...something! Anything! The picture was much more fuzzy than the first we got at twelved weeks, so I began to get frustrated that I couldn't see anything at 16. When she brought up the heart beat screen (which we recognized from the first time), there were no spikes. Sam grabbed my hand and we just held tight. Eventuall she told us that Baby's heartbeat was strong at 149 beats per minute. What a sigh of relief. However, after having endured ten minutes of NOTHING, Sam finally asked if we could hear it. Her response was less than kind, but she relented and turned the sound up...a little...for about 5 seconds. We ehard it, thank goodness. After the ultrasound we went back to the ER room and waiting to hear from the oncall OB about what was happening.

45 minutes later, the nurse comes back in and tells us that the doctor said my placenta is low-lying and he wanted to keep me overnight for observation. What?! I have never been hospitalized in my life! But...anything for Baby. At this point we had been at the ER for almost 4 hours and had not called our parents. If nothing was wrong and the bleeding was just a fluke, we did not want to worry anyone. Since I was being hospitalized we assumed that this was serious and finally made the called at about 10:30 pm. Couldn't get ahold of Sam's parents because our phones were dead and we couldn't remember their cell numbers (they were out of town helping with our new niece!), but we did talk to my mom and set up a plan for Dawg (poor Dawg...). I was transferred to Family Care for the night, Sam went home to get a few things and let Dawg out, and I was checked in by the nurse. This process took about two hours. I was so tired. The nurse explained everything (I have a marginal placenta previa...no space between the placenta and my cervix - trauma of any kind...stretching, bending, lifting, pushing, pulling, etc....can cause bleeding). We KIND of slept off and on for about 5 and a half hours and then woke up to 6 nurses in the room for the shift change. We were told that the doctor would see us early and that I would probably be home by 8 am. 7...8...9...10...FINALLY at 10:30 the doctor came in.

He was kind of a strange dude, but explained everything again and said that I was basically not allowed to do anything but go to work. No moving risers into place, no heavy cleaning at home...if I wasn't teaching at work (and I had better find help for most tasks), and I was to be chillin' out at home. Sam was to do the cleaning, etc. Not. Fun. But, I am allowed to go to work. That is a huge relief. Had I been put on full bed rest, we would be in biiiiiiig trouble! With no more bleeding, I was released to go home at 11. I couldn't wait.

We got settled in and took a really long nap before heading to church choir practice and Sam teaching a lesson. The show must go on, folks! I was so tired and relieved that Baby was okay, I was fairly happy and just wanted things to be normal and happy.

Friday I had a concert at school during the day. Friday morning and I SEVERAL breakdowns. I think everything hit me after I had gotten some rest...this could have been, and still COULD be...quite bad. If I don't take care of myself, we could lose this Baby. Not a good feeling. Quite the gut check. The staff here at school are great. My principal, having had twins just last year, was not a good patient herself when it came to rest and not doing dumb things, so she was adament that I follow doctors orders and ask for help when I need it. Note to the world: Heather does NOT like asking for help. Better if you just jump in! Needless to say, Friday morning I was a wreck. The afternoon and the concert were fine.

This weekend, Sam got to do a lot of the lifting and cleaning. I feel horrible not contributing, but know that we are doing this for the sake of Baby. I have a doctor's appointment Thursday with MY doctor, to hopefully find out more and see what all we have to do now to moniter my silly misplaced placenta. My mom always did call me the experimental child. Here we are experimenting again! Supposedly as my uterus grows, the palcenta should be pulled up and out of the way. Maybe in a few months we won't have to worry anymore about what I can and cannot do that might cause it to tear. That would be fantastic.

Thank you family, friends, and coworkers for your support. This was probably one of the scariest things that has ever happened to us. It showed us just how much we love this baby already. So...so much. Sam has been awesome and so supportive. I love that he is so involved in this process and is with me every step of the way.

Just to reiterate, everything is basically fine now. I may (and probably will) bleed again, but at least this time I know what it is and can to a better job of keeping myself calm. I will continue to keep everyone posted! In th meantime, prayers would be greatly appreciated!

~Heather

Where does the time go?

A wise woman once said that I should slow down and enjoy life where it was because before I knew it, time would pass faster than I could ever imagine. I would be married, have bills, have children, all before I could blink and then those children would grow up way too fast. That wise woman is my mother. Mom - you were right! (I find myself saying that more and more as I get older...hmmm...).

Sunday marked the passing of my first trimester carrying our first child. It already seems like just yesterday when we found out I was pregnant. What I truly can't believe is that some women don't find out until about two weeks ago (12 weeks along!) and I figure dit all out at 4 weeks. That has given us a lot of time (and yet so little!) to comprehend this new life forming. It is exciting, scary, happy, nerve wracking, and such a blessing. We couldn't be happier. Both of us have always wanted a family and now our dream is coming true. Here is my concept of time at the moment:

* In 2 weeks, I have my 4 month doctor appointment. I was just at the doctor two weeks ago for my 3 month! Holy moly!

* In just 6 short weeks, I will be half way through pregnancy.

*In 10 weeks, school will be out.

*Summer ALWAYS flies by of course, so that too shall pass faster than I can imagine.

*Then I have one month once school starts back up again and we should be welcoming our little bundle of joy in the world.

WHAT?! You are telling me that I ONLY have THAT long to get ready??? Whoa. Really puts things in perspective. Thanks Mom! ;-)

In the meantime though...an update on how things are going. I feel great for the most part! No morning sickness at all = score 1 for me! I got woosy in the beginning with the pre-natals and with lack of food at regular intervals, but other than that no sickness. Woohoo! I was EXHAUSTED for about 8 weeks, but that is waning now, thankfully. I have 12 concerts in the next 10 weeks, so hopefully that second trimester energy will kick in!

At my 12 week appointment we were supposed to get to hear the heartbeat for the first time, but our doctor could not find it with just the portable doppler machine. She said it could still be a little early, but offered us an ultra-sound to make us feel better. I jumped at the opportunity since  I was only supposed to get one at 20 weeks. Not only were we able to hear the heartbeat (158 beats per minute!), but our little cherub was jumping like a bouncing bean! That is why the doctor couldn't find the heartbeat. We have a bundle of energy!!! And a very healthy one so far. Such a blessing! It was really cool to see our baby...and...he or she has a face! SO awesome and amazing to see!

So....onward we go. Things are going well, we are excited, and blessed! Please continue to pray for us as we journey forward! And...I will try to do better at updating :D

~Heather